Jalapeno Popper Bites

Bacon jalapeno poppers

Jalapeno Poppers is right up there with dark chocolate as a vice for me.  I don't know if it's the spiciness of the jalapenos or the creaminess of the cheese but I just can't get enough. I've always made those traditional kind.  I would stuff a pickled jalapeno with cream cheese and do the triple dip in flour, egg wash and bread crumbs.  But honestly that got to be too much of a process and I stopped making jalapeno poppers regularly.  While surfing around on pinterest.com, I read a blog entry about jalapeno popper bites.   I remembered the basic idea behind the recipe while I was out shopping and decided what the heck let's try it.  I have to say it's got to be one of the simplest recipe I've ever made.  I'm never going back to fried poppers.

The Goods:

1 can of crescent roll dough

4 oz cream cheese (half a block)

1-2 jalepeno peppers

salt

garlic powder

onion powder

The How To: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice jalapeno peppers and remove seeds if you don't like much heat (I leave the seeds and membrane in.  I think the spiciness balances the richness of the cream cheese).  Take out your refrigerated can of crescent dough.  Open and roll out onto sheet pan.  It's already cut into triangles, I cut it again on the diagonal to make 4 triangles. Place a dollop of cream cheese in the middle and sprinkle with desired amount of seasoning.  Top with jalapeno slices.  Wrap the ends together and pinch to close.  It's ok if the top is not closed but make sure the bottom and sides are because if there's an opening the cheese will ooze out.  Bake for about 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown.  Yields 16 poppers.

If you want a little variety, add some cooked smoked bacon to the mix.  It would give it a bit more depth and as we all know, bacon makes everything better.  This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled to make more.